Adrian commission discussing code of ethics and value

Wednesday

Jun 20, 2018 at 4:00 PM

ADRIAN — The city of Adrian’s proposed code of ethics and values aims to set a standard for all in the city to follow and uphold.

Drafted by the city’s human relations commission and introduced for discussion during Monday’s Adrian City Commission premeeting, interim city administrator Richard Haberman said the proposed code complements the city’s current ethics policy.

Chris Miller, Adrian’s DDA/economic development coordinator, said the city began exploring putting the new code together as part of becoming Redevelopment Ready Communities certified. The process showed the city did not have such a code. According to the city’s website, Redevelopment Ready Communities is a program through the state of Michigan that uses best practices to position communities for investment and growth.

“It deals with your behavior and conduct, and the types of things, when you interact with the public,” Haberman said, “whereas the other code of ethics has a lot more to do with the internal and how we are being responsible to the public in how we conduct our business.”

“The city of Adrian’s code of ethics and values is designed to provide clear, positive statements of ethical behavior reflecting the core values of the community,” the proposed code’s introduction states. “The code includes practical strategies for addressing ethical questions and a useful framework for decision-making and handling the day-to-day operations of the municipality.”

The code of ethics and values was developed to apply, it states, “to elected and appointed officials, including the city commissioners, community members, the city administrator and city attorney, as well as the various city commissions — planning, zoning, human relations and other sub-committees.”

It’s goals include to make the city of Adrian a better community, built on mutual respect and trust, and to promote and maintain the highest standards of personal conduct among all involved in city government — elected officials, city staff, volunteers and members of the city’s boards, commissions and committees.

The code further states, “the proper operation of democratic government requires that decision-makers be independent, impartial and accountable to the people they serve.

“The city of Adrian has adopted this code of ethics and values to promote and maintain the highest standards of personal and professional conduct in the city’s government. All elected and appointed officials, city employees, volunteers and others who participate in the city’s government are required to subscribe to this code, understand how it applies to their specific responsibilities, and practice its 11 core values in their work. Because we seek public confidence in the city’s services and public trust of its decision-makers, our decisions and our work must meet the most demanding ethical standards and demonstrate the highest levels of achievement in following this code.”

These core values are being ethical, professional, service-oriented, fiscally responsible, organized, communicative, collaborative, progressive and asks individuals to use social media responsibly, not tolerate discrimination and be respectful.

Each value is followed by a statement stating what the value looks like in practice. For social media this states: “Dishonorable content such as racial, ethnic, sexual, religious and physical disability slurs are not tolerated and I will not initiate or encourage negative behaviors on social media.”

City attorney and human relations commission chairwoman Tamaris Henagan said the mayor asked the HRC to take on the drafting of the code as its first task. She said in preparing the proposed, drafted code each HRC member researched other communities and similar codes. From there she said it was written with big help from HRC members Idali Feliciano and Lindsay Patton.

“This is an opportunity to create a culture in the city,” Henagan said of the core values and their impact.

Mayor Chuck said he’s in support of the code and believes this could set a standard of expectations the city has for anyone representing the city, from elected or appointed officials to employees.

The city commission will discuss the code and could vote to make it an official document in the coming month.

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